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Antonio de Oliveira Salazar
Antonio de Oliveira Salazar (28 April 1889 – 27 July 1970) was a Portuguese statesman who served as the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1932 to 1968, during the Estado Novo (New State) period, leading a corporatist-authoritarian government. He was also briefly the interim President of Portugal after the death of Oscar Carmona in 1951. His rule was marked by nationalism and conservatism, as well as traditional Catholic values, as stated in one of his sayings, "God, Fatherland, and Family." Although many described him as a Fascist and he was aligned with Francisco Franco's Spain, Salazar remained neutral during World War II and later had Portugal join NATO, the United Nations, as well as other international organizations. Salazar stepped down in 1968 due to poor health and died in 1970, while his Estado Novo government would collapse in 1974, beginning democratic reforms in Portugal. Biography Salazar was born into a lower-middle class family in 1889 and would attend seminary school before later studying law at the University of Coimbra in 1910. He graduated in 1914 with distinction, specializing in financial and economic law. Salazar went on to become a professor of economics. Having been in his twenties at the time of the 5 October 1910 revolution that overthrew the Portuguese monarchy, Salazar would remember the political chaos and economic instability that would mark the period of the Portuguese First Republic. In the 1920s he began to get involved in political activism, and after the military coup of 1926 the new regime asked him to serve as Finance Minister. He reluctantly accepted, but was only in office for a short time before resigning due to the government not giving him enough power in conducting financial policy. It was not until 1928 that he accepted the offer again from President Oscar Carmona, who promised to give Salazar unrestricted power in that regard. Within a year, Salazar stabilized the Portuguese economy, restored the value of its national currency and created a budget surplus, something nearly unheard of in Portugal. As military rulers came and went, Salazar remained and in 1932 would become appointed Prime Minister by Carmona. He established an authoritarian government and espoused traditional Catholic morality, being opposed to those he perceived as genuine fascists and National Socialists. Although not a monarchist, Salazar was nonetheless endorsed by exiled king Manuel II of Portugal. Salazar's new Estado Novo was created with the adoption of their new constitution in 1933. It eliminated political parties and created corporatist groups that represented the people's interest, in a guild-like system. This corporatist model was compared to fascism, but Salazar cracked down on those who were actual fascists and national socialists, disagreeing with them fundamentally. Likewise, there was also a crackdown on Marxists, as Salazar believed the communists wanted to destroy the family and the nation. Salazar kept Portugal out of World War II because of his critiques of Nazi Germany and because he was one of the few European continental leaders at the time that predicted the Allied Powers would win. It is recognized that Salazar's decision was crucial in keeping Francoist Spain out of the war and neutral as well. After the war, Salazar maintained the policy of continuing to maintain Portugal's colonial empire despite the rest of Europe beginning to accept the process of decolonization, which continued up until his stepping down in 1968. Portuguese forces successfully put down a series of insurgencies through effective light infantry, militia, and special forces operations, but the opposition to the Portuguese Colonial War grew. It was stopped after Salazar was no longer in office. Category:1889 births Category:1970 deaths Category:Portuguese Category:Catholics Category:Portuguese politicians Category:Portuguese nobles Category:Portuguese conservatives Category:Portuguese fascists Category:Prime ministers Category:Conservatives Category:Fascists Category:Portuguese prime ministers Category:National Union of Portugal members Category:Templars